


From White to Purple

by BelleAmant



Series: A Change in Fate [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Changes the very ending of the episode, F/M, Post-Episode: s03 Chat Blanc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:20:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22085542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelleAmant/pseuds/BelleAmant
Summary: What if Ladybug cast her Miraculous cure just a little too early? What if she never erased her name on the gift? Who knew that it could change her own life, her own future, so much?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: A Change in Fate [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589710
Comments: 24
Kudos: 219





	From White to Purple

_From White to Purple_

She leans into him, eyes closing as she purses her lips. She hears his gasp, feels his breath mingling with hers as he leans in, just as drawn to her as she is to him. She feels his tension melt away as his lips brush hers, and she-

Grabs the bell off of his suit, quickly crushing it in her grasp. Out flies an Akuma, beating its tiny little wings as it tries to get away. She’s faster, though, and in seconds it’s caught and purified.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” She screams, and the ladybugs fly all over Paris. Ladybug grins, ready to see everything fix itself, to go home and see her own chaton, and-

Her smile drops. Beside her, Chat Noir looks at the ruins of his timeline.

“Princess,” he whispers, and it’s so heartbreaking.

“How do you remember?” She whispers back, fear tangible. “I was supposed to fix all of this. You shouldn’t remember my name, you can’t, you can’t…”

“Marinette,” Chat says, taking her hands in his. “It’s not your fault. It’s not your mistake to fix. This was me. This was my destruction, this was...this was my Akuma. Because _he_ Akumatized me, and I...I destroyed him. I destroyed everything, my lady. But now you’re here, and he’s gone. And it’s alright now, my lady, my princess, my Marinette.” He embraces her, and he’s shaking. “You’re alright. And he can’t hurt you here. He can’t hurt you.”

Ladybug hugs him back, lets this scarred Chat Noir wrap himself around her and cling to her like a lifeline, because maybe that’s exactly what she is. “Chat, I can’t stay here. I have to stop Hawkmoth in my own world.” The words hurt to say. Even if Chat Noir isn’t her love, she cares for him dearly and hates to see him in pain.

Chat Noir clings to her, but he doesn’t hurt her. Even as he sobs, he protects her. “Let me go with you. Please. I can’t let you get hurt, not by my dad. Not again.”

“Your dad?” Her heart breaks for him, lips falling into a sad frown. “Oh, chaton, I’m so sorry.”

“Ladybug,” Bunnix calls out, peeking through the portal. “We need to go.”

“Mari,” Chat whispers, and any rejection slips out of mind. Because Chat Noir, her future Chat Noir, is alone. He’s alone and scared, and he was forced to kill his dad (his _dad_ , who was also the terrorist of Paris) and a future version of herself in an Akumatized form that he never wanted. She can’t leave him, she can’t leave her chaton like this.

“Okay. Let’s go home, chaton,” Ladybug concedes at last.

“Hey, wait, you can’t take him _home_ ,” Bunnix starts, but Chat Noir just looks to her, eyes filled with fear and sadness.

“Bunnix, I can’t _leave_ him.” Ladybug steps forward. “He’s alone. He’ll die here, you can’t expect me to let my partner _die_.”

“I, I-” Bunnix sighs. “God damn it. The future is going to be so messed up.”

“We’ll just have two Chat Noirs. I don’t see a problem,” Ladybug responds, and Bunnix sighs.

“Just get in the damn portal.”

The trip takes seconds. Soon enough, she’s back. She’s home, and life...life is usual. She’s supposed to be back with the girls, she knows this. But now?

Now she has a second Chat Noir, and this one stands beside her. Well, he cuddles up to her arm, practically purring. Ladybug can hear her earrings beeping, and she begins to panic, but Chat just smiles down at her. “No one can see you, princess,” he reassures her, and that’s all she needs to drop the transformation.

Tikki flies out, eyes full of confusion. “Marinette!” She starts to admonish, but then she freezes. Turning to Chat Noir, she says, “You’re not the right one.”

Chat freezes. “What?”

“That’s not my Plagg’s energy. You’re not-” 

“I took him home with me.”

“What.” Tikki eyes Marinette with exasperation. “You _what_.”

“I took Chat Noir back. He was all alone, Tikki, I couldn’t do that to him.”

“What happened?” Tikki is more concerned now, looking to Chat with worry.

“My father was Hawkmoth. He found out my identity and Akumatized me. I...I cataclysmed the whole world.” Chat folds in on himself. “Everyone...everyone is gone, but I have my princess back! I can protect her now!”

“Your father…” Tikki whispers. “Where are you going to stay? What are you going to do, now that there’s two Chats running around?”

“I can’t stay at home,” Chat says immediately. “I can’t go back to him, please Mari.”

“You can stay with me,” Marinette says quickly. “I’ll just, uh, fuck. I’ll come up with something.”

“If he’s living with you, that means you’ll have to know his identity, too,” Tikki points out. “Are you ready for that?”

Marinette, for once, doesn’t hesitate. “Yes. If it means Chat is safe, then yes.”

Tikki sighs. “Alright. Chat, it’s time to drop your mask.”

“Plagg, claws in,” Chat says, and bright green lights up the alley they landed in. 

Adrien looks at Marinette with a soft smile when the light is gone.

“Surprise, Princess?” He asks, and it all clicks. It makes sense. 

“Of course it was you,” Marinette laughs. “We’re such idiots.”

“We are, but that’s why we’re meant to be, my lady,” Adrien says, and Marinette laughs. Or maybe she cries. It’s hard to tell, with tears on her face and love in her heart. Because this is her Adrien, her chaton, who she loves and who she holds dear in her heart. And he’s been so hurt. He’s been forced to destroy everything he loves, he’s been thrown in a battle against his own father, against Gabriel Agreste. He’s lost everything...and now he’s here, with her, but he knows it’s not the same Marinette he used to have.

And yet he loves her all the same.

And he’s crying, too. He’s sobbing, and soon they’re trapped in an embrace, pulling each other closer in an attempt to comfort themselves, or maybe it’s each other they’re trying to protect from the world.

An hour later, Ladybug and Adrien head over to Marinette’s home, the store long closed. Her mother opens up the door when Ladybug knocks, surprise evident. They’re let into the house.

“Adrien? Ladybug?” Her father says when they enter, just as confused. “Did something happen?”

“Not in this time, no,” Ladybug says immediately, and the two calm. “I have a...rather odd request for you two. You are the Dupain-Cheng's, yes? Parents of Marinette?”

“Yes, why?” Her mother asks, eyes wary.

“Well, Madame, this isn’t the Adrien of your time. This is a future Adrien, and due to some...complications, his world is no longer an option. I’d like to ask your family to keep him here. Normally, I’d ask his own family, but-”

“My Gabriel Agreste was abusive,” Adrien says, voice blank but expression broken. “I can’t...I can’t see him, I’m sorry but I just-”

“Don’t you worry,” Her mom cuts him off, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You can stay here. You’ll sleep on the chaise in Marinette’s room, if that’s okay?”

“That’s more than enough, thank you so much Madame Cheng,” Adrien thanks her, gratification filling him. 

“Just call me Sabine,” she says with a smile, and Adrien nods, speechless.

“Thank you, Madame,” Ladybug says, “but I have to go now.” And she does, swinging away and into a nearby alleyway, and then detransforms. Ten minutes later, she’s back to her house, and she opens the door with a smile.

“Maman, I’m home!” She calls out, and pretends to be shocked when she sees Adrien sitting with her parents. “Adrien?”

Adrien smiles awkwardly, and her mother clears her throat. 

“Marinette, you may want to take a seat. This is going to be a bit...shocking.” Her mother tries to be soothing, and Marinette just struggles to keep her own expression unsure as she takes a seat.

“Ladybug came to us, and asked us to help her,” her papa starts, and Marinette nods. “She told us that there were some issues in the future, and as such this Adrien had to come from the future.”

“You’re from the _future_?” Marinette gasps, and Adrien nods, shrugging. “Wow.”

“Adrien had some...problems in his timeline, so he’s not going to live with _Gabriel_ ,” her maman spits out, and Marinette lets out a confused noise. “He’s going to sleep on your chaise. Is that alright, dear?”

“Alright? I, uh, sure? Sure!” She nods.

“You’re sure, dearie?” Her maman asks, and she seems confused by Marinette’s rather...lackluster reaction. Which makes sense. If Marinette wasn’t Ladybug, she would probably be freaking out.

“This isn’t the most unusual thing that’s happened, maman. I’m sure.”

Her parents chuckle.

“If you’re sure, then show him up to your room. And don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” her papa says, then winks. “Dinner will be done in half an hour.”

“Come on, Adrien,” Marinette says, and Adrien stands up, taking her outstretched hand. She leads him to her room.

The moment the trapdoor is shut, they both giggle.

“Ever the actress, my lady,” Adrien says, and Marinette snorts.

“Thank you, chaton,” she responds.

“Ugh. Can I at least have some cheese before I have to deal with this all night?” The voice cuts off Adrien’s next response, and Marinette freezes. 

She looks up.

Plagg huffs. “Seriously. Did you forget about poor ol’ me?”

Adrien’s smile breaks into a watery one. “Of course not, Plagg.”

“Hey, don’t do that. None of that teary eyed bullshit- and you’re crying. Come here, kit,” Plagg sighs and floats down to Adrien, who cups him gently. “There, there. It’s all fine.” He pats Adrien’s thumb. “We’re fine now. Your princess is here, I’m here, we’re all here.”

And that’s how Marinette finds herself being tackled by Adrien, who sobs into her shirt and clings to her once more.

Her parents don’t call them down for dinner. Maybe they can hear his sobs.

Or maybe they just know. 

When Marinette wakes up the next day, she assumes everything was a dream. She _hopes_ it was a dream, because she never wants Adrien to feel so much pain.

But when she rolls over, he’s laying in bed beside her. He’d cried in his sleep on the chaise, and Marinette had let him come up. 

“Good morning, my lady,” Adrien whispers, eyes opening slowly. He smiles at her, and it’s full of love. Marinette’s heart skips a beat, and she smiles back.

“Good morning, chaton. Let’s see if there’s any spare clothes for you, I think I designed some menswear a while ago.” That’s a lie, she knows she did. She made clothes for Adrien, but not the one beside her.

It fits him perfectly. Well, almost. He’s a bit taller now.

“How much older are you, chaton?”

“A month,” he responds immediately. “It’s our one-month anniversary, or… it would be.” He smiles again, but it’s haunted. 

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes, and he cuts her off.

“Please don’t apologize, my lady. You’re back, so everything is okay! You’re all I needed back, and I have you. I’m fine.”

They’re almost late for school, because it takes Adrien a while to let go of her long enough for them to separate and change. But they get to class five minutes before the bell, with Adrien wearing a perfectly fitted pair of jeans and a plain black top with an embroidered green paw on a small chest pocket.

Everything is fine, if a bit more energetic than usual. After all, Marinette walked in with Adrien, and they’re talking happily. This is good, this is progress!

Alya leans over to ask Marinette what happened between them.

And then the Adrien of their timeline walks in, and immediately freezes.

“Hi?” He asks, and the room promptly explodes into a cacophony of chaos.

“There’s _two_ of you?” Alya screams. “Which one is the Akuma?”

Adrien, the one from the other world, flinches at the mention. Nino turns to face him, shocked.

“You’re an Akuma?!”

“No, no, I swear I’m not!” The blond says, voice frantic.

“Where’s Ladybug? And Chat Noir?” Rose cries out, cowering behind a chair. 

From the corner of her eye, Marinette sees how the ‘actual’ Adrien starts to back away, ready to transform into Chat Noir. And that’s what spurs Marinette into action.

No way in _hell_ is she letting her chaton get hurt by, well, her chaton.

“He is _not_ an Akuma!” Marinette shouts, slamming her hands on her desk. “He’s from a different timeline, Ladybug brought him to my house!”

“What?” Alya lets out.

“She brought him to my home last night,” Marinette explains. “His universe was...complicated, and he couldn’t live there. So Ladybug brought him to our world, and asked my family to house him.”

“So there’s two Adrien Agrestes right now?” Kim asks.

“Yeah, kinda,” ‘fake’ Adrien says with a shrug.

The ‘real’ Adrien shrugs. “You know what? Not the strangest thing in my life. Nice to meet you, me?”

“Same to you.” ‘Fake’ Adrien stands. “I’ll, uh, get out of my, uh, your seat.”

“You can sit with me, Adrien,” Lila offers, smiling sweetly.

Marinette holds back her grin when her chaton shakes his head. “No thanks, I’ll just sit beside my Marinette.” He slips into the spot beside her, leaning into her immediately. Marinette knows she’s blushing, especially when everyone turns to stare.

“ _Your_ Marinette?” Alya asks, eyes widening as a smile sneaks its way onto her face.

The only response she gets is a smile back, because the bell rings. 

When Miss Bustier walks in, she turns to greet her students. “Hello, cla-” she stares at Adrien, the one who cuddles up to Marinette, then the one sitting in front of the bluenette. “I need more coffee. Max, explain.”

“Time travel. Ladybug brought back an Adrien.”

“I’m here to stay, sorry,” Adrien says, then nuzzles further into Marinette’s side.

“Right. Should I just call both of you ‘Adrien’?” Miss Bustier asks.

“Just call me B. I’m the imposter in this world, anyways,” ‘B’ decides, and it’s settled just like that.

~~~~~

Alya has to be honest, this is the _weirdest_ thing she’s ever seen.

Okay, so _maybe_ that’s an exaggeration. But, seriously? How is Alya supposed to feel when, all of a sudden, there’s a second Adrien? And to make it weirder? Marinette isn’t even flustered! I mean, come on! This is still Adrien Agreste, the boy Marinette has been crushing on for a year! 

And it’s odd. Because Marinette still blushes when Adrien talks, or when B makes a comment or gets too close...but it’s so toned down it’s not even funny. Really. It used to be amusing, watching the girl fumble with her words. Now, now Marinette just blushes and moves on! Sure, Alya is glad that B’s arrival is helping Marinette calm down, but _why_?

And why is B so much more interested in Marinette? Why is he constantly by her? 

It’s not even in class. Alya can’t help but keep an eye on their new classmate, and she’s confused by what she sees. It’s so obvious, too.

He’s cuddly. Alya caught B trying to sleep on Marinette, practically on top of her. He was all too happy to curl up into Alya’s best friend, and acted like it was natural.

He’s in sync with Marinette’s actions. When she got up to go to Ms Mendeleiev’s class, she ended up tripping on the final step. Alya had winced, and was ready to help Marinette pick up her stuff… but Marinette never hit the floor. Somehow, despite falling _forwards_ , and B being _behind_ her, he’d ended up catching her in a dip, the two gazing into each other’s eyes. Somehow, B was ready to save her. And he did it again, when she tried to get up from the lunch table and tripped over her own feet. In the nick of time, B was holding Marinette up, helping her. 

He’s protective, but Alya can’t figure out _why_ . Whenever Lila gets too close, B is in front of Marinette. He acts like a guard, as if letting the Italian near will harm Marinette. It doesn’t make sense why B is constantly glaring at Lila, as if Lila is some sort of threat. And she’s just the most obvious case. B glares at most people. When Kim challenges Marinette to an arm wrestling contest, B is watching the athlete intensely, as if one wrong move will be his last. When Alya swings an arm around Marinette’s neck, pulling her into a hug, she feels eyes digging into her back. Every time someone makes physical contact with Marinette, he’s on them, watching them silently. It’s creepy. He barely even lets _Adrien_ near her, and they’re technically the same person! (It was funny, to be honest, seeing how upset Adrien got when B interfered with their conversation.)

Alya finds herself distracted all day, watching B as he follows Marinette around. He has eyes only for her, that much is clear. He’s in love with the bluenette, and it shows in his actions. He’s constantly trying to be close to her, he’s protective, he knows when she’ll get hurt and does his best to prevent it. And when Alya overhears him whispering flirty pick up lines, she knows she’s right. 

It feels like it should be a dream come true. Finally, _finally_ , Marinette’s feelings are returned! Adrien loves Marinette, and Marinette loves Adrien.

But this is some weird parody of the future Alya always dreamed of. Because Adrien is from the future, exactly one month in the future according to what he told her at lunch. And Marinette? Well, she isn’t. The Adrien that loves Marinette isn’t the Adrien of this time, so it feels like Alya shouldn’t celebrate the victory she so clearly should have.

Is it even a victory? B follows Marinette like someone who follows an unreachable goal. He smiles and flirts, but he holds onto her like a fleeting dream that could leave him at any moment. Alya sees the way he flinches when someone mentions an Akuma, the way he clings to Marinette when someone startles him. She sees how B puts himself in harm’s way (even though the harm is nonexistent) as if it’s natural, as if he’s used to protecting her. She sees how B throws himself into guard mode, as if Marinette’s safety and wellbeing is the only thing in the world that matters. And it’s only been a day.

Alya wonders what could have possibly happened in a month, to make B act this way. She wonders if it’s bound to happen in this world, too, and if the Adrien she knows will become so… _devoted_ to Marinette.

She...she doesn’t really want to know. She’s afraid of what she’ll find out.

She can only hope that the world he comes from is different from the world that she will live in.

~~~~~

Marinette feels like the first day went well. B got along with the class wonderfully! Well, okay, he was a bit protective. And he always threw himself in front of Marinette whenever Lila walked by, that was interesting. And he somehow managed to catch her every time she nearly fell, as if in sync with her clumsiness. But it makes sense. This is her chaton, her Chat Noir who did the exact same thing for Ladybug. He took the hits, he worked in perfect tandem with her. It only makes sense that, once he knew her secret identity, he’d do the same with her as Marinette. 

She has to say, it _is_ nice that Adrien finally stands up against Lila. Although she still wishes he never _had_ to become so protective, so worried. 

She falls asleep with a heavy heart, her chaton wrapped in her arms. She can only hope that she can make his future better than the one he had. She falls asleep, ideas of taking down Hawkmoth, his _father_ , floating through her head, a perfect revenge for her perfect partner.

He does it by himself.

Marinette wakes up to Tikki’s gentle nudging. The Kwami coaxes her awake, reminding Marinette that they have to get to school, then flies through the ceiling, most likely heading up to Plagg B. Marinette gets up-

And immediately feels B’s eyes on her. She looks down from her bed, and spots him sitting on the chaise. 

“Chaton?” She whispers, seeing his grin. It’s unsettling, a little too wide, a shattered version of the model smile Marinette’s seen on dozens of billboards. He watches her, smiling every bit like the cat who caught the canary. 

“Chaton, are you okay?” She asks, speaking up again, and Adrien _beams_.

“He won’t hurt us ever again, my lady,” he responds, standing up. He starts to walk to her, going up the stairs with a catlike grace. 

Marinette freezes. “What do you mean?”

He’s at the base of her bed, and he sits down. He reaches into his pocket empty handed.

He takes his hand out, and a brooch rests on his palm. A very familiar brooch.

And then he pulls out _another_. 

The Butterfly and Peacock brooch lay upon her bed, glistening in the morning light. It feels surreal, it feels like a dream.

And the manic grin flashes in her head, and Marinette feels her breathing pick up just a bit. Because what if-

“I didn’t lay a claw on them,” B promises the moment he sees her startled expression. “Although they _deserved_ to feel another cataclysm-”

“Chaton!” Marinette yells.

B just huffs, turning away like a petulant child. “They _hurt_ you. They made _me_ hurt you. I wasn’t risking a repeat, my lady. I couldn’t do that again, couldn’t risk endangering you again.”

“How did you even do it?” Marinette asks, a finger brushing over the Butterfly Miraculous. It’s beautiful, a pale purple that radiates a calm energy. To think that such a peaceful object could create so much terror…

“I snuck into my house. He never put a camera in my room. He never expected me.” B laughs. “He trusted his son too much.”

“You weren’t transformed?! Chaton, you could’ve been hurt!”

“They never suspected me. _Gabriel_ ,” he spits out the name, “only saw me as his perfect son. He didn’t know, didn’t even think. All I had to do was walk into his room and take it from his bedside table.”

“He didn’t wake up?”

“Oh, he did. ‘What are you doing, Adrien?’ He asked. ‘It’s two in the morning!’ He said. ‘I’m sorry, _father_ , I had a nightmare. I just had to make sure you were alright.’ I said, and that was that. I was met with silence, and that’s all I needed. I took the brooch, and I left the room.”

B shrugs, as if taking the Miraculous of his father, of their enemy, isn’t a big deal. Marinette wonders how hurt he truly is, how much he’s breaking. She pulls him to her chest, hugging him, and he practically melts into her side.

“Who...who had the Peacock?” Marinette asks, staring at the second brooch. It’s broken, damaged. Perhaps she and Master Fu can fix that…

“Nathalie was Mayura, but the brooch was locked in Gabriel’s vault. I took it, and his damn Miraculous book. I know you and the Guardian can use it well, it’s in your closet right now.”

“We already have it copied,” Marinette says lightly. “Do you remember when you brought the book to school, and it went missing?”

“You took it?” B asks, wide eyed.

“Lila did, and I found it in the trash. I took it to the Guardian, we made copies, and then I returned it to your da- Gabriel.” 

“ _Why_? Why would you return it, when you knew it was about the Miraculi?” B asks, gaping. 

“I couldn’t see you pulled out of school. I didn’t want you to suffer for my actions, chaton,” Marinette admits, and tears her eyes away from the brooches.

B is looking at her like she hung the stars in the sky. And then he’s crying again, but he’s smiling and laughing. He’s breaking down and building himself up all at the same time, and Marinette can only hold him steady and hope that she can help him. 

They end up getting to school seconds before the bell, but Miss Bustier doesn’t say a word. It’s hard to, when Marinette is still consoling B, who’s clinging to her as they walk. Marinette knows that her classmates are watching the pair, but she pays them no mind, whispering into B’s ear, promising him that everything will be alright now.

B just nods as she speaks, smiling at her like she’s the sun. 

Maybe she is, to him. 

Lunch arrives, and B is quick to pull Marinette away from the class. The two head to the roof, and spend the time in silence. B is calm, smiling at her like a smitten kitten.

And maybe he is, with her.

When school ends, Marinette and B head to the Guardian. Tikki heads to Adrien, and moments later Chat Noir is leaping across the skylines of Paris, heading in the same direction. 

Marinette leads B to Master Fu’s house, and she knocks on the door. Fu opens up, surprised to see B.

“But Chat just arrived,” Fu mutters to himself, but lets them enter nonetheless. 

Chat Noir blinks as Marinette and B enter the room.

“Princess?” He asks, and Marinette smiles sadly.

“Hey, chaton,” she responds, and her heart aches as she looks at her two kittens, one oblivious, one all too knowledgeable.

“Marinette,” Fu starts. “Perhaps you could explain what’s going on here?”

“B retrieved the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculi last night,” Marinette states simply. “He also brought back the copy of the Miraculous book.”

Fu blinks, shocked. Chat Noir seems just as surprised.

“But he was at my place- I mean!” Chat shakes his head, trying to come up with an excuse.

“She already knows, Adrien,” B says, and Chat deflates.

“Oh, thank Kwami,” Chat Noir sighs. “Claws in.”

A flash of green greets Marinette’s eyes, and then she’s looking at the Adrien of her time. Plagg floats into the air, huffing.

“Why is there a second me going around?” He mutters, and Plagg B darts out of Adrien’s coat pocket.

“Timeline issues. Don’t blame me,” Plagg B huffs back. “Never would’ve happened if his dad wasn’t an asshole.”

Adrien blinks. “What does my dad have to do with this?”

Marinette feels B’s grip on her hand tighten as he speaks. “Adrien, Gabriel is...he’s Hawkmoth.”

Marinette has never wanted to harm anyone, that’s for sure. She’s always shied away from violence.

But seeing Adrien and B look so hurt? Seeing the look of betrayal on Adrien’s face, the look of suffering on B’s? 

Marinette is tempted to cataclysm Gabriel by herself.

Adrien looks to Marinette then, and his eyes widen. “Wait, does that mean you actually _are_ Ladybug?” Marinette can only nod to this, but it’s enough for Adrien to gain the hint of a smile. “I always knew you were special,” he says softly, and Marinette can’t help but blush in spite of everything. 

“She is,” B speaks up, and Marinette looks at him. He’s gazing at her, eyes filled with sincerity. “She’s the only thing that matters, Adrien. Trust me. You don’t know this, but we- we’d do _anything_ to keep her safe. We’d do anything for her wellbeing. She’s worth this whole damn planet combined.”

Marinette feels tears rise in her eyes. “Chaton, don’t say that-”

“I’m right!” B insists. “Marinette, you’re my lady, my princess. You’re an angel, Marinette. You’re amazing and perfect and...and I love you.” He smiles. “I love you as much as I loved you when I asked you out the first time, and I’ll love you for the rest of my life. Will you go out with me?”

“Chaton,” Marinette whispers, and then she’s pulling him into a kiss. When they part, both are smiling, ignoring the tragedy around them. “Of course. I’ve loved you for the past year.” 

Marinette doesn’t see Adrien’s wistful gaze, but B does. 

Fu clears his throat, and Marinette blushes, looking away from B. “As glad as I am to see true love,” Fu starts, “I have to bring up something more...upsetting. Plagg of the other world, we can’t have two Kwamis of Destruction in one world. It’s not natural, it will upset the balance if you’re here for so long.”

Plagg B grins, and it’s bittersweet. “I know, Master Fu. You’re right, just like always.” He looks to B, and Marinette is shocked to see tears. “I can’t be away from my Sugarcube for so long, B. The Tikki of this timeline? She’s not the one I know. The one I love, she’s...she’s gone in my world. I can’t be with her if I’m stuck here. I’m sorry, kid, really..”

“Go find her, Plagg,” B says, reaching out a hand. Plagg nuzzles into the boy’s hand, and a single tear falls. It leaves a scar on B’s finger. “I know what it feels like to lose your other half. And I found mine again. I found her.” B looks at Marinette, teary eyed but smiling. He looks back to Plagg B, and slips off his ring. “So go find your half.”

“I’m coming, Sugarcube,” Plagg B whispers, and then touches the ring.

It dissolves immediately, and so does the Kwami. 

~~~~~

Fu lets B keep the Butterfly Miraculous.

“He deserves a better holder to remember in the future,” Fu claims, but B knows it’s to protect Marinette from harm. It’s to protect her, because she’s his treasure, his lady. She’s his reason to live, his light in the darkness. She’s the one who saved him from his father, from himself, from the world he ruined. 

As they leave the building, Fu promises to fix the Peacock brooch. With those final words, B heads back home, with Marinette between him and Adrien.

B can see the way Adrien looks at his lady. And he knows exactly what the blond is feeling, because they’re the same person. He sees the wonder, the complete love that pours out of their souls.

And so he speaks up. “You know, I don’t mind sharing her with _you_. She’s our lady.”

“Chaton,” Marinette murmurs, but she’s blushing. 

Adrien blushes, but his eyes are glimmering too. He looks to Marinette. “Princess? How does a date with two alley cats sound?”

Marinette giggles, and smiles sweetly at B and his original. “It sounds meow-velous, my chatons.”

Seeing that smile, everything feels alright. Walking by her side, B knows that everything will be fine. Even if his family is in ruins, and will likely be thrown in jail the moment Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the new Butterfly expose him. Even if he had to leave a world behind to be with his lady. Even if it means hurting someone, if it means actually getting his hands dirty in order to prevent another mistake...it’ll be fine.

And seeing the way Adrien gazes at Marinette, like she’s the freedom that they both hold so dear? 

He knows he’s not alone, and they’ll protect her forever.

And they’ll all live happily ever after...because B won’t allow any other option. 


End file.
